The role of DNA polymerase in DNA replication is to synthesize new DNA strands by adding nucleotides that are complementary to the template strand. DNA polymerase reads the template strand in the 3′ to 5′ direction and assembles a new strand in the 5′ to 3′ direction. It also has a proofreading function that allows it to correct errors in base pairing, improving the accuracy of the replication process. DNA polymerase works with primase to add nucleotides to the RNA primer and extend the new strand.